PrestaShop: The Ideal Open Source Platform for Ecommerce

PrestaShop

One of the best open source platforms which are available nowadays is PrestaShop. PrestaShop is basically a PHP MySQL solution which is customizable in nature. PrestaShop is home to hundreds of templates and extensions. PrestaShop is also not that bad when it comes to features. The software has around 265 different features.

Last year PrestaShop opened its 100,000th store. The event was well covered in the media and the office was decorated with banners and balloons.

Open source software is the one which can be downloaded for free and whose code can be accessed by the utilizers. The access to the code means that a user can easily tweak and customize the software for the exact feel and look required for an individual E-commerce website.

To customize software you need to have basic knowledge and technical skills related the installation and other major aspects of the software.

Worldwide Usage

PrestaShop is very famous Open Source software which is trusted and utilized in more than 100,000 active stores globally. The software has its presence in around 150 different countries of the world. Available in more than 40 languages, the software can support tax, unlimited currencies and shipping rules.

Modules

There are more than 1000 modules available in PrestaShop that can be plugged in by you into your store for its enhancement. The Modules range from displaying of product image’s slide show to supporting of a new provider of payment. If you are someone who specializes in PHP then you can always develop Modules of your own as per the needs of your clients.

Important Features

As mentioned already, PrestaShop is home to some wonderful features. Listing all the features require a complete catalogue hence here we will limit our self to the major ones.

The categories are unlimited

The customizable products are also unlimited

Through PrestaShop you can create customer referral program, customer group and loyalty groups

PrestaShop and Ecommerce Store

If you have an E-commerce Store then it is highly recommended that you should make full use of PrestaShop for the management of your store. There are many reasons behind this claim of ours. Please go through the headings below to learn about these reasons.

1. Open Source

The biggest reason behind PrestaShop’s compatibility with E-commerce store lies in the fact that the software is open source. You can utilize, distribute and alter PrestaShop as per your wish. You can easily and potentially utilize PrestaShop as an E-commerce Platform (white label) for the projects of your clients.

2. Modules and Themes

The themes and modules which are offered by PrestaShop provide you with the opportunity to alter the feel and look of your store. The good part is that in most of the cases all this can be done free of charge. There are many free PrestaShop Templates and themes that are available nowadays.

3. The Overrides

The PrestaShop Overrides allows you as a developer to overwrite the core functionality of PrestaShop. The changes do not get over written when PrestaShop gets updated. As a user you can always override the modules of PrestaShop. Similarly the classes and controllers of PrestaShop can be overridden too.

4. Support

It does not matter whether your store is in Germany, UK or USA; your language and currency will be supported by PrestaShop. The software supports multiple currencies and languages on one store which means that your customers can easily choose their currency. Multiple stores for different regions are not required as the software allows business globally.

5. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

You need to rank well on Google if you want to make your online store successful. SEO in Prestashop is extremely good as it is optimized using latest SEO practices and technologies. The good thing about PrestaShop is that the software is very friendly with Google. Pretty URL’S for all the products and ages are available in PrestaShop.

6. Safety and Security

PrestaShop is software which is PCI compliant and supports the SSL certificates. The encryption of cookies and passwords is very common. The software encourages secure utilization. As an E-commerce Store owner you do not need to worry about any security aspect as the software has got everything well covered. Security aspect can also be improved a lot when Prestashop CAPTCHA is installed, this is an innovative Prestashop captcha module that would help your site free with spam!!

7. Payment

There are a lot of out of the box payment providers that come along with PrestaShop. The names of some of these providers are Google Checkout and PayPal. If you are someone who is specifically for something like SagePay then for this you can utilize a number of payment modules that can be easily found by you in PrestaShop webpage (Addons)

Conclusion

Ecommerce Stores are a common trend nowadays as with the advancement of technology there are high chances that the concept will grow in the coming years. You need to equip yourself with the right software if you truly want to be successful. The right software for you is PrestaShop!